The Glory of God

On a splendid day we look at the countryside and declare, "Isn't it glorious?"   Do er truly know what glorious means?   If asked to answer the question, "What is glory?" what would we say?

My answer is that glory means sheer, exuberant beauty.   When Moses stood before God to receive the Ten Commandments he believed himself extremely lucky not to have perished.   The power of God's glory was considered to be capable of striking a person dead.   Throughout the Old Testament we see glimpses of God's glory but never the full monty!   We go through life not knowing what God's glory is really like.   Many years ago, at a church youth conference a minister was asked, "What do you think heaven will be like?"   His answer was that he thought of heaven as a place in which God was in the centre with bright light shining from him.   The rest of heaven was like an amphitheatre with everyone basking in that light.   By your earthly deeds you were seated nearer to or further from the throne.

In the Gospels we have the Transfiguration that reflects some of this glory and the light shines out from Jesus.   Peter, one of the three disciples that accompanied Jesus, was amazed and blurted out that he wanted to build three shelters to mark the place that others might see where it happened.   After the vision Jesus told the disciples to keep quiet about it until he had died.   I think this was an occasion that the three men would back to and say, "I was there!"   This would be the sort of remembrance that would enthuse them whenever they felt their mission was flagging.

For the most part, references to glory in the New Testament were about something yet to be witnessed.   There were, however, two occasions that we exceptions.   The first was when Stephen cried out to his stoners, "Look, I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right-hand side of God!"   Then there was the moment when Saul was struck down and the voice from the storm asked, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"   Saul knew in that moment that he was in the presence of a power and a glory well beyond him in a very much higher place.   His words were, "Tell me Lord who are you?"

Believe it or not, I was once a teenager!   One day a group of us went to the other Congregational Church in my home town of Nelson.   It was their Anniversary Sunday and they had a guest preacher we wanted to hear.   As he preached the sermon I was aware of a light surrounding him and then he disappeared and in his place was Jesus with light shining from him.   To this day I cannot explain this vision but simply refer to it as a religious experience.   It set me on the road as an itinerant preacher among the churches in that area.   Was this not a short glimpse of the glory of God?

George Macleod, founder of the Iona Community, spoke of a Pentecost that stood out for him.   He had been working very hard to get everything ready for the Sunday service and had gone to bed very tired on the Saturday night.   Next morning he awaoke, feeling very refreshed.   Then he heard the sound of a wind blowing.   He looked out of the window and the sea was flat calm.   Yet he could still hear this wind.   He went all round the house to check on doors or windows that might have been left open but nothing was left open.   Then he noticed the carpet rippling as though a current of air had got under it.   Yet there was not a breath of air moving!   This was a pentecost when God was communicating a a special way.   Was this not also a glimpse of glory?

Turn to the final new Testament Book, Revelation, and read in chapter 21 "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth.   The first heaven and the first earth disappeared, and the sea vanished.   And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from god, prepared and ready like a bride dressed to meet her husband.   I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: "Now God's home is with mankind!   He will live with them, and they shall be his people.   God himself will be with them, and he will be their God.   He will wipe away all tears from their eyes.   There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain.   The old things have disappeared."

Think of life when you experience a great knock down with force and weight of everything.   All this pain and tears will be gently wiped away by God as you stand before him.   What a thought!   What a promise!   Just think of that vision describede as a bride adorned in wedding dress.   Married men will all know how they felt as they saw their bride approach them in the church on that special day.

The second passage here reads, "The angel also showed me the river of the water of life, sparkling like crystal, and coming from the throne of God and the Lamb and flowing down the middle of the city's street.   On each side was the tree of life, which bears fruit twelve times a year, once for each month; and its leaves are for the healing of the nations.   Nothing that is under God's curse will be found in the city.   The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him.   They will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads.   there shall be no more night, and they will not need lamps or sunlight, because the Lord God will be their light, and they will rule as kings for ever and ever."

John's vision is to prepare us for that future in God's glorious presence.   There is so much to look forward to!   Today's life is very hard for many but then it will be wonderful in the very house of God.   The church banner in Nelson read, "Where there is no vision the people perish."   We need to have that vision of glory in order to continue in service and it is God's gift to us!   Praise his Holy name!